New FOCA head of schools is a familiar face
Jul. 5—Lindsey Lumpkin has found a new home as head of schools for First Odessa Christian Academy.
It is not only her new professional home, but it's also associated with her church home, First Baptist Church.
Lumpkin, who had been principal of Downing Elementary School in Ector County ISD, said she wasn't looking for a new job.
"It was literally God laid it in my lap. I go to church here, and have attended since I was a very small child. My pastor called me and he had two questions for me when he wanted me to serve on a committee. And then number two, conveniently, he asked, I would like you to submit your application for head of schools," Lumpkin said.
That was not what she was expecting. She said yes to the first question and asked if she could pray about the second one.
"That's kind of where this all started. Deciding to come was very difficult because I had been in ECISD for a long time and I loved my school. I loved the kids that were at my school. I loved my teachers; really great people. The parents were awesome, so it was a hard decision to make. But ultimately, it's where I felt that the Lord was calling me," Lumpkin said.
A lot of thought also went into being head of schools in a place where she goes to church. She has known First Baptist Senior Pastor Byron McWilliams for 19 years.
"We are very excited to welcome Dr. Lindsey Lumpkin as the Head of Schools at First Odessa Christian Academy. Dr. Lumpkin brings a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to this position that will serve to take our school to its highest levels of achievement. She is caring, kind, capable, and approachable, all of which are keys to success. Even more important, Dr. Lumpkin has a great love for the Lord that she longs to share with her students. There is no doubt that our greatest days as a private Christian academy are ahead under her leadership," McWilliams said.
Lumpkin has had most of her rites of passage at First Baptist — accepting Jesus, being baptized, getting married and having her father's funeral.
She is in the choir and the ensemble at First Baptist.
"The past 19 years, he's led us and led us well," Lumpkin said referring to McWilliams.
With all that overlap, she wanted to make sure she could still be herself and head of schools.
"There's got to be a little bit of separation there. But this church has grown with me; I have grown with it. People have come and gone, but there's still a core value of taking care of people and loving on people. That was something that I wanted to make sure that I could worship freely and still have my pastor be my pastor, and then when it became head of schools, then he and I could talk business. ... First and foremost, we were going to run it as a Christian organization and run it like Christians should and that it was going to be a positive relationship the whole way through. I have no doubt that that's exactly what it will be," Lumpkin said.
She added that McWilliams didn't want her to step back from anything she was doing with the church. Lumpkin wanted to be sure that there wouldn't be any friction by adding her new role.
"We sat down and we prayed about it. We talked about it and he assured me and he said look ... we may not always see eye to eye on things, but there's a loving way that we can handle (those things) and move forward. I said okay; I said deal. I said you bring no surprises; I'll bring no surprises," Lumpkin said.
She added that she plans to keep McWilliams in the loop so there will be full transparency about everything.
"He's given me full rein to run my campus the way that it needs to be run and to do what needs to be done under the guises that Jesus's first and then we put our families and friends second, and academics third. That's what we're working on," Lumpkin said.
The school has certified teachers and uses the state curriculum, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.
"We are still searching for high school science, a high school English position and a PE coach. Those are the three positions that we have. We have no doubt that God will provide something, but as you know, we come from UCSD and there's a shortage there. We don't want a shortage here either. There are some benefits to working in the public school system versus the private school system and vice-versa," Lumpkin said.
The school also has houses that they are selected for. The houses are service based and older students mentor the younger ones.
Because First Odessa Christian is a smaller school, she feels somewhat calmer, but there is still a sense of urgency because it seems like school is starting soon.
At Downing she had almost 900 students and at First Odessa Christian they expect to have about 200 in kindergarten through sophomore year.
FOCA is adding a grade a year.
"That's a huge difference. It's also a huge undertaking. When you have to write a master schedule for your elementary and then you've got to figure out how to merge that with your middle school and your high school. ... We're going to have drivers because our kids are going to be sophomores in high school. We're going to have kids driving to school, so we've got to find parking for them and make sure that we have a system in place for that. There's a lunch that needs to involve kinder through fifth grade and sixth, seventh and eighth and ninth and 10th, so it's figuring out those scheduling differences," Lumpkin said.
She added that the school has a long-term plan and a vision for the campus.
"If we continue to grow with the rate that we're growing currently, and recruiting and meeting attendance, requirements, we will be looking for a place to grow into. That will have to be a determination that we make as a campus, as a church, and how that's going to be supported, how that's going to be figured out and built," Lumpkin said.
The school is in its fifth year, so it's still relatively new.
"It feels like we have an opportunity to craft some things the way that we want it to be done," she added.
"We're looking at adding a more Christ-centered curriculum. We've always had it, but we're really looking for something that already has it written into the curriculum. That's a positive, but we also want to keep it in line with the state. We use the TEKS, the state standards, because we know that a student that comes in from a high school in our local public schools will be on a certain level, and we'll have to meet them where their need is, as well, and where their achievement is. If we keep with the TEKS and the state standards that our kids, if they were to leave us or if we gained more students from our local public school, then we would be on target for that," Lumpkin said.
The hope is that FOCA students will start out in the church daycare system and graduate. It's also that the school will be able to provide everything public schools do, but with an emphasis on Christ, teaching them the Bible, having a love for other people and standing firm in their faith.
"It's a mission field for me. It's always been a mission field for me. ... I wanted kids to feel loved. I wanted them to feel accepted. I wanted them to feel that they could do anything that they set their minds to whether I was in Sunday school class at church, or a ninth-grade classroom," Lumpkin said.
Lumpkin has had several roles in her 20 years of public education. She began her career as a secondary English Language Arts teacher, has worked for Region 18 as an educational consultant, was the founding principal at Falcon Early College High School on the campus of UTPB, and an assistant principal in both primary and secondary within the Ector County ISD system. Since 2021, Lumpkin has been the principal of Downing.
She started out at Odessa College and earned her bachelor of arts and master of education in leadership degrees from the University of Texas Permian Basin, and her doctorate in educational leadership from Texas Tech University.
Growing up, Lumpkin never thought she would go into education. Her mother was a school teacher and her grandfather taught in ECISD.
"You have to put up with kids and their attitudes and you don't make enough money. Well, God has a sense of humor because here I am. ... I just finished my 20th year in education. I love kids. I love teaching. I love to see voracious readers; somebody capturing content and comprehending something. That's fantastic. ... I just love to see the light bulb come on and just their eyes wide and when they figure something out that they didn't know that they could do. It's just an incredible experience. It's an honor to be able to teach kids," she said.
